“3rdly. To dispense with the Office of Bursar, and require the nowise onerous duties thereof to be performed by some of the Resident Officers of the College.
“4thly. To dispense with the services of a Classical Tutor till the attendance of students render them necessary, which, at present, is manifestly not the case.
“Preparatory, however, to these changes, and without which, indeed, they cannot be carried into effect, there needs, the Board would humbly represent, an interposition of Her Majesty's Government for the removal of the present Principal, and for an addition to the number of Governors resident in Montreal.
“The Board of Visitors believe they are by Law entitled to remove the Principal from his Office on the sole ground of his contumacy in refusing to appear before them; and they have restrained from depriving him of his Office by their own authority, simply by a consideration of the still greater disorder which must have been the result of the College.
“The Board of Visitors would, however, represent to Your Excellency that, in their judgment, such removal is indispensable to the well-being of the College; and that as Dr. Bethune was never appointed, except temporarily, and his appointment has never received the necessary sanction of Her Majesty's Government; if that sanction were refused, the office would be forthwith vacant, and it would be competent for the Governors to appoint an able and efficient Principal in his stead.
“Even such removal, however, would serve but little purpose, greatly as the Board believe it would contribute to restore public confidence, unless an addition were made to the number of Governors resident in Montreal. If three or four enlightened and intelligent men were united in the government of this institution, who, from their residence in Montreal, could give a fair share of their attention to its interests, the most beneficial consequences might be expected; and the public confidence would be greater if, in the selection of these Governors, regard should be had to different Protestant bodies in the Provinces, none of which (except by such limitation as may be conceived to be included in the words 'sound religion') are, by any Clause, either of Mr. McGill's will, or of the Royal Charter, excluded from the Offices, Honours, or Benefits of the College.
“May it therefore please Your Excellency to use your influence with Her Majesty's Government to refuse to sanction Dr. Bethune's appointment, and to give, as speedily as possible, a Supplementary Charter, making an addition to the number of resident Governors in Montreal. The Board are persuaded that the result of such action on the part of Her Majesty's Government would be to rescue the College from its present disorderly and inefficient state, and to render it, according to the intentions of the benevolent founder, a public benefit.”
Against the justice of this report the Governors entered a vigorous and emphatic protest. They denied the right of the Royal Institution as Visitors to investigate College conditions. They contended that McGill University was a private foundation, and as such might only be “visited by the legal representatives of James McGill and not by the Sovereign Lady the Queen, her heirs or successors, or by any person or body appointed by the Crown as supposed and assumed in the Royal Charter incorporating the College.” As the Statutes had not yet been approved, they forwarded at the same time a resolution to the Colonial Office declaring that “the College being a private foundation has the undoubted right and power as such to make its own Statutes, Rules, etc.,” and that they would therefore no longer wait for the Royal sanction. They also made representations to the Legislative Assembly asking support for their contention that “the provision of the Charter by which the right of the Crown is reserved to disallow the appointments made by the Governors is an assumption of power inconsistent with the very nature of the Foundation and is absolutely null and void in Law.” They sought legal means for obtaining from the Royal Institution all rights and titles to the properties and monies in their possession belonging to McGill University. Their main argument was that the University was a “private institution.” But their protests were of no avail.
The Governors then summarily dismissed the Vice-Principal and Professor of Classics, the Rev. F. J. Lundy, mainly because of the allegations he had made before the Royal Institution. His dismissal caused further trouble, not, however, without its lighter side. Dr. Lundy appealed to the Royal Institution from the Governors' decision. In his petition he suggested that the Governors who dismissed him were not a representative body and that their action was illegal. He stated that “the Chief Justice of Montreal and the Rev. John Bethune, two of the Governors of McGill College, did proceed to hold a special meeting in the parlor of the residence of the Chief Justice and not at the College; that ... without previous summons or notification he was there informed ... [on being called in] that his further services were not required in the College, and that he was accordingly dismissed ... without any semblance of a trial or investigation. ... That on asking for an explanation he was informed that no explanation would be rendered and that he would not be allowed a hearing in the matter.” With his appeal the Royal Institution, in the absence of Statutes and Rules, was powerless to deal. Dr. Lundy was dismissed on the 4th of January, 1845. He was allowed to retain his rooms in the College until May 1st “because of the inconvenience to his family of moving in winter,” but he was considered “as removed on and after the day of his dismissal.” In June he was still occupying his College rooms, and he was told by the Governors to vacate them or he would be ejected in fourteen days. In July he was still there, and the Governors again told him that if he was not out at the end of two days they would remove him, “using no more force than might be necessary for that purpose.” He went; and the controversy ended.
Professor Wickes then became Vice-Principal, but he retired two years afterwards. Chapman, the Tutor, became Lecturer in Classics, but he retired a few weeks later. His salary was long in arrears and he could not collect it, and when he left he had to be content with a return of the money he had expended “in making a window into a door in his room.” The Beadle was also dismissed, and the entire personnel of the College officers was soon changed. Other appointments were made and were approved by the Royal Institution. In making the appointments provision was made for “a Librarian,” and the Rev. Joseph Abbott was selected as the first Librarian of McGill at the beginning of 1845. The Royal Institution considered the Governors' actions to be growing daily more drastic and intolerable, and they urged the Home Government to take steps to end the struggle between the two bodies. On January 13th the Lord Bishop of Montreal, the Rev. Dr. Mountain, who had meanwhile become one of the Governors of the University, again wrote to the Governor-General, Lord Metcalfe, as follows: